I argued previously that Liverpool should keep Raul Meireles. Unfortunately, the news has just broken that he has been sold to Chelsea for a reported £12m, which represents a measly £0.3m profit on his £11.7m purchase a year ago. Now that the decision’s been made, Liverpool fans will, quite rightly, lend it their full support in light of the excellent track record to date of the decision-makers — Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish. But equally, I’m sure Liverpool fans will be quick to acknowledge and thank Meireles for his excellent contribution in his one full season at the club.

Unlike the Torres transfer, this is not a case where a fairly remunerated player, rated a certain starter by the manager, has knowingly lied to the fans about his intentions and voluntarily chosen to leave in circumstances where it was not necessary to do so in order to secure first-team football or a fair wage. Rather, an unfortunate situation has arisen whereby all the current parties at Liverpool were, to an extent, victims of circumstance.

Fenway Sports Group inherited an excessive squad wage bill (the fourth highest in the Premier League despite Liverpool finishing 7^th in the league in 2009–10 and sitting in the bottom third of the table when FSG took over on 15 October 2010) from the previous owners. They quite rightly adopted a fiscally responsible policy of wage restraint, particularly with respect to players closer to 30 than 20 years of age.

Meireles, at 28 years of age, was caught by this strictly enforced policy despite being one of the few players who was under, rather than overpaid, as he had been so keen to move to Liverpool (ironically enough to escape Porto where the then newly appointed manager, André Villas-Boas, included him in a cull of senior players) that he accepted a below market wage of £35,000 per week subject to a gentleman’s agreement that this would be bumped up to approximately £65,000 a week if he had a successful first season in England.

However, such a pay bump would clearly be inconsistent with FSG’s policy of wage restraint. Moreover, over the summer, Liverpool acquired three new midfielders — Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing — at a cumulative cost of £43m, thereby presumably limiting Meireles’s first team opportunities this season.

No opprobrium should be directed towards Meireles for wanting to leave in order to secure first team football and a fair market wage. Portuguese internationals with four Portuguese league titles, six seasons’ worth of Champions League experience, and appearances at Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 on their CV don’t want to sit on the bench and get paid a fraction of what the market judges them to be worth — if Meireles is worth less than a third of a Milan Jovanovic, then Glenn Beck is a Nobel prize winning economist. Like Alonso before him, Meireles is simply behaving as any responsible professional in any profession would.

In light of the summer midfield arrivals, fans legitimately wondered where Meireles would have fit in at Liverpool. I would submit that the answer is that he would, at minimum, have offered comprehensive, quality cover for every conceivable position in a modern midfield. Holding central midfield, deep-lying playmaker, attacking central midfield, left wing and right wing — Meireles not only played them all for Liverpool last season, but played them well.

Gerrard, Downing, Adam, Henderson and Lucas are all excellent players but I find the thought of not a single one of them losing fitness, form or simply energy over the course of a full season slightly implausible. Of course, at his best, Meireles was more than mere cover for others — he offered a unique blend of tactical flexibility, technical surety, Champions League and international experience, and a positive dressing room influence. I must admit that, in light of Dalglish’s emphasis, following the win over Arsenal, on the importance of “the squad” in modern football, I am slightly puzzled as to why Liverpool would want to dispose of such a player.

However, my biggest concern is that, tactically, Liverpool could be playing right into Chelsea’s hands. As I pointed out in my season preview:

• “Torres is a great striker but one who requires a peculiar tactical set-up to thrive. Divining that tactical set-up is not difficult — any formation which gives him the freedom to play off the shoulder of the last defender and a midfield with the technical proficiency to supply quality balls on the carpet in behind the defence”; and
• at present, “Chelsea do not have central midfielders with the finesse to thread balls in behind the defence”.

That’s why Chelsea were so desperate to acquire Luka Modric. Given Meireles’s technical qualities and contract situation, it is no surprise that Chelsea turned their attention to him when it was clear that Daniel Levy was in no mood to sell. A midfielder of Meireles’s pedigree, with the technical ability to thread balls in behind the opposition defence, is the key tactical component Chelsea have been looking for to restore Torres to his former glory.

Accordingly, by selling one professional, hardworking servant, Liverpool may have unwittingly unleashed the latent powers of their greatest traitor. That would be the cruellest of ironies; the consequences of which not even a living legend like Kenny Dalglish could fully escape.

Finally, it is surprising that an old school manager like Dalglish would sell unnecessarily to a direct domestic rival. Practically speaking, Liverpool did not have to sell because Meireles is a model professional — despite the mounting transfer speculation, he has happily played three times for Liverpool this season and performed well on each occasion. No schoolgirlish sulking and telling the manager he doesn’t know if he’s right to play ala Luka Modric. If Meireles had stayed, he would not have been a disruptive influence in the dressing room and, at minimum, he would have been an important squad member. In the meantime, Liverpool could then have privately agreed with Meireles to sell him to a non-domestic rival in the summer.